Danish Cord Seat - #5 Mounting the Warps

After marking the warps and cutting off 50 feet of the cord it’s time to start weaving the seat.  In the lower right you can see the instructions for weaving and you can bet I will be looking at them a whole lot.

The weaving instructions here in the blog are an overview of the process.  For really good detailed instructions, drawings and photos check out Fine Woodworking’s article “Weave a Seat with Danish Cord” in the October issue #284. 

The warp mounting starts at the front left which is why there is an “F” on the inside of the stretcher.  Cleverly enough there is a “B” on the back stretcher.  First is to clamp the cord to the inside of the front stretcher then make one full wrap around it and head toward the back-left corner.

Here is the back-left corner where the cord is run across the top of the stretcher down the back outer face, under then up and over the cord coming from the front.  The cord then continues down the inside face of the back stretcher under it, up the back outside face and through the loop heading back toward the front.

Heading back to the front left corner the cord runs on the left side of the first warp cord, down the front of the stretcher, underneath it, back up the inside of the front stretcher looping over both warp cords then back down and under the stretcher.  The free end of the cord in the photo diagonally runs off to the left.  The starting end of the cord is clamped to the stretcher with the blue clamp.

Taking the cord from under the stretcher five wraps are made around it.  The sixth wrap heads toward the back stretcher for the second front to back warp.

When the cord gets to the back stretcher the same process is followed as before.  Wrapping the cord around the stretcher, under then up and over the cord coming from the front.  The cord then goes down the inside face of the stretcher under it, up over and through the loop to head back toward the front.

This process is continued back and forth until you have just enough cord to do a set of wraps around the front, a warp to the back and return to the front plus the second set of wraps around the front stretcher.  Before starting this sequence, the next 50’ of cord is clamped to the inside of the front stretcher.  The wraps go over the starting end of the new 50’ length locking it in place.  Here you can see where that process is just starting with the new cord set in place.  The “X” on the inside face of the stretcher is the center warp of the stretcher.  Once the new cord is locked in place the old cord is clamped to the stretcher and the wraps from the new cord locks it in place.

When getting close to the end a short dowel is added to the wrapping shown in the top photo while the bottom one shows the wrapping loosely in place.  The tail end of the wrap has been threaded under the last several rows and shown emerging across the top of the blue and yellow clamp.

Next the dowel gets removed so the loose wraps can be tightened down to hold the tail end in place.  Here it is about half way out.

When the dowel is removed, all the wraps are all tightened and the tail trimmed off this is what the end looks like.

All is not done with the warps as only the front has the stretcher completely wrapped with cord.  The back still needs to be wrapped between the warps.  The photo below shows the seat reversed with the back closest to the camera and the completed front away from the camera.  Those gaps get filled in with wraps next so the front and back match.

The wrapping starts by tucking a length of cord under the previously laid in verticals.  The other end is then run up the outside face adjacent to the leg across the top, down behind the loop on the inside face then under the stretcher and finally back up the outside face to the left of the two original warps.  From there the cord is wrapped around the stretcher filling in the space between the warps with the same number of wraps as used on the front stretcher.  When the space is filled in and you get to the next warp the end of the cord is fed behind the loop and the process continues.  When you run out of cord it’s spliced using the same method as with the front.

This process continues across the back and is finished off using the same dowel method as was done when coming to the end at the front.  Here the wrapping is done and the only thing to do is trimming the tail off and tucking it in behind a wrap. 

To do all the warps and fill between them required about 145’ of cord.  I am a little surprised that there is that much cord in what’s been done.  Working with the cord reminds me of when I was building our house.  Whenever I changed trades like from masonry to carpentry or to electrician I always ended up with a different set of sore muscles and or blisters.  It’s the same with weaving the seat.  Pulling to keep tension on the cord and holding it tightly in place while manipulating the free ends has given my poor fingers a workout.

Next Up – Weaving in the Wefts & Footpads